Soulless
by KatieMarie999
Summary: It's been 3 weeks since Frisk led the monsters to the surface. Now, her friends are happier than they've ever been and they have her to thank for it. But things begin to get very strange when she starts acting unusual around them. Meanwhile, Sans is now having troubling dreams that he's starting to suspect aren't dreams at all. Post Soulless Pacifist. DISCONTINUED
1. Asleep

_Hey, Undertale community! I may be a grown-up but I adored the game and had a great time playing it! I did some reading in your section and I'm not sure anyone has broached this particular topic. As a seasoned writer myself, I thought I ought to contribute and I like the ideas I have for it This was in the description but I should mention that this contains major spoilers from both the True Pacifist and Genocide runs (of which I've only done True Pacifist myself- though I've watched Genocide a couple of times on youtube by various people). Just so you know, I almost didn't write this at all. I have admittedly started a few projects I ended up not finishing but if this takes off, I'll finish it._

* * *

 **Chapter One: Asleep**

* * *

Toriel took a deep breath of clean, fresh air as she steadily stirred. That was the key to her butterscotch-cinnamon pie. _Stirring._ A thick enough consistency in the mixing bowl made a perfect filling in the pie. Not so long ago, this steady stirring had passed the time in her lonely life. But now she had a reason to keep on stirring. A reason to smile at her reflection on the metal edges of her bowl.

It had been three weeks. Three of the best weeks she'd had since...

She frowned, her heart twinging painfully. Best not to look back. Moving forward, accepting this admittedly wonderful new reality, that was the best way to heal. She couldn't save a single child. But a single child had saved her.

"Toriel?" Sans stuck his head in, grinning. "Kid's out like a light."

"Thanks for checking on her." said Toriel. "I'll leave her a piece for when she wakes up." she turned fully to face her skeletal friend. "Are you going to head home?"

"And miss out on pie? Haha, I don't think so." Sans winked at her and retreated to the living room.

It didn't take long to pour the mixture into the crust and place the pie in the oven. Toriel wiped her hands on her apron and leaned against the kitchen counter, staring around at her surroundings. Sometimes she would still wake up momentarily confused before she remembered she was here. The surface. There was still so much to explore, so much to learn, that she felt she was discovering as many new things as her students. She'd always been curious, of course, but with her new role as a single parent to a young girl, bringing herself to try to listen to her ex-husband's apologies, and trying to prevent Undyne or Papyrus from burning her house down, she felt like every day was an adventure.

She took off her apron and hung it before making an appearance in the living room.

"-don't see why she won't let me help!" Papyrus was complaining loudly, stamping his foot dramatically. "Pie and spaghetti are practically the same thing!"

Toriel, used to this complaint, spoke up in as patient a voice she could muster. "I believe you still need to master the basics, Papyrus."

"I've been practicing!" Papyrus shot back, looking rather proud of himself. "I've almost mastered boiling water!"

"And I'm very proud of you." Toriel gave him a smile. "You do us all proud. Don't you?" she narrowed her eyes at Sans. " _Don't you_?"

"Ah yeah." Sans chortled. "We're very proud."

Papyrus puffed out his rib cage in triumph, apparently placated. This time, at least.

"So, are you cookin' up a lesson plan too?" asked Sans in a clear attempt to change the subject before Papyrus started to catch on to his insincerity.

"I'm _always_ doing that." Toriel smiled and sat down on a love seat with a deep, contented sigh. "I've never been so busy."

"Neither have I!" Papyrus interjected. "I've had so many projects! The crossword puzzles don't write themselves, you know!"

Toriel smiled fondly at him. His new job a puzzle maker for the local paper seemed to give Papyrus a purpose in life beyond his original aspirations to be part of the Royal Guard. It had been Frisk's idea originally and the paper had loved Papyrus's, well, _unique_ style. So had the public.

"Well," Toriel said, trying to get the conversation back on track, "my lessons tomorrow are on the last of the monsters from Hotlands. And then I think the kids will be caught up. I wonder if I can focus on animals from the surface from there on out. Though I'm a bit concerned we won't have enough material to cover."

"I think you'll manage." said Sans in a rather knowing tone. "How's Frisk?"

"You just saw her before bed." Toriel reminded him.

"Yeah, but you're around her all the time. How's she adjusting?"

"Really well." Toriel replied. "She's got kind of an edge over the kids in her class, except the monsters, knowing about what's in the Underground already. And she's been a good ambassador, even just to the class. Hasn't given me any trouble." she paused for a moment. "Why do you ask?"

"Hey, she freed us from a life underground." said Sans. "We owe her a lot. I'm just makin' sure she's adjusting pretty well too."

"How's Undyne?" Toriel asked Papyrus. "Is she still working for Alphys? I keep meaning to invite her over but with all the lesson planning and raising Frisk, I just haven't had a chance."

Papyrus gave her a toothy grin. "She's been doing a really great job! The scientists really are the most generous people here. One day as Alphys's assistant and they gave her all the vacation leave she wants!"

"Ah. I see." Toriel fought the urge to laugh at Papyrus's obvious naivete. "So what's she doing with all her vacation leave?"

"Well she's been talking about joining the Royal Guard above ground." Papyrus put his head in his bony fingers. "What's that called again?"

"The military." Sans told him.

"Ah yes! If I weren't so busy with my puzzles, I would join it too! I hear they have a whole group that pretends to be seals! And another one made of infants!"

Sans snickered behind his hand, which went unnoticed by his brother. Toriel smiled warmly at him and nodded.

"I think you should stick to your puzzles for now, Papyrus." Sans said seriously. "Who knows, maybe they'll open up a puzzle faction you can join!"

"That's a wonderful idea!" Papyrus pointed a single finger in the air, straightening himself up to his full height. "I, the Great Papyrus, will be a puzzle making military hero! I should start practicing for my photo ops. Which side is my good side, would you say?" he began to make a series of ridiculous poses.

The timer in the kitchen dinged, preventing either Sans or Toriel to respond to this turn of events. Toriel excused herself and got up, heading to the kitchen. The pie was finished, its crust a golden brown and its contents smelling delicious. She liked the surface cooking instruments, even if they took longer than fire magic. It was yet another way to integrate herself to her new reality. She passed her hand over the pie, using magic to cool it faster. Then she cut a decent sized piece and placed it on a plate. Frisk was going to get the first piece. She definitely deserved it.

She quickly slipped from the kitchen to the hallway to Frisk's room, only hearing snippets of Papyrus's insistence that his photogenic side was his left side. The little girl was fast asleep, her short brown hair fanning out behind her on the pillow. As much as the child loved pie, Toriel decided not to wake her now that she looked so peaceful. She placed the plate with the pie on the floor, cast a quick magic charm to make it repel bugs and dirt, and slipped out the door with a smile on her face.

As she entered the hallway again, she could have sworn her heard an odd noise come from the girl's room. A sort of low, creepy laughter. She hastened over to the room again but found only the sleeping child within. It had to be her imagination. Toriel shook her head, deciding that it was simply the strain of her new life. As wonderful as it was, it could be very exhausting.

But she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was wrong as she served some pie to Sans and Papyrus. Fortunately, neither seemed to notice.

* * *

Sans bolted upright in bed hours later with a short gasp. It was a moment before his eyes adjusted to the darkened bedroom around him. He took several deep breaths to calm himself. No easy feat considering the dream he'd just had.

Instantly, details began to trickle out of his mind like water in cupped hands. He shut his eyes, trying to remember the details. Frisk was there. A red glint was in her usually green eyes, a sort of hungry smile he'd never seen on her before. And she'd... she'd...

Sans was irritated at himself for not remembering what had happened. It had felt so _important_ , so _vital_ while the dream had gone on and now he could barely remember a thing about it. The only thing that remained was a sense of foreboding. A sense that perhaps this wasn't just a dream.

A sudden sound made him jump. An owl was hooting overhead. Nothing dangerous. Nothing problematic. Sans sighed and burrowed under his covers again. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling but perhaps it _was_ only a dream.

He hoped.

* * *

 _We're just getting started! I don't think the updates will be too long. Since I've got a few projects going on, who knows how frequently this will get updated. But I wanted to get something out to you soon and contribute to this wonderful fandom._

 _Also, I'm not going to include any romance in this fic. I do have ships that I like, some canon and some not, but I want to include all fans regardless of ship preference._

 _Don't forget to review!_

 _~KateMarie999_


	2. Cooking Lessons

_I'm back! Yeah, sorry about that whole absence. I have other things I'm working on but that doesn't mean I shouldn't have been working on this as well. I've been attempting the Genocide run myself and Sans is way out of my league, gaming wise. Anyway, enough of my chatter. Have a chapter instead!_

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Cooking Lessons**

* * *

Sitting at her desk, her head in her paw, Toriel gazed down at her lesson plan with a glazed expression. She loved teaching but planning lessons could, on occasion, be a little boring. Then again, maybe all she needed was a break. It was getting close to bedtime.

"Frisk!" she called as she spun around in her swivel chair to face her office door.

Frisk trotted over and smiled at her adopted mother. For a split second, Toriel thought she might have seen a glint of red in her eyes. But that was ridiculous. It had to be a trick of the light.

"I think I'm going to turn in." said Toriel, stretching and yawning. "I think it would be a good idea for you too."

"All right." Frisk said in a cheerful tone. "Planning again?"

"Yes." Toriel sighed deeply. "But I don't think I'm going to get anywhere tonight. I'll try again tomorrow. TGIF, right?"

Frisk tittered appreciatively and sauntered over to the desk to look at the plan spread out before Toriel. "Snails, huh? I'm kind of surprised you're only teaching that now."

"Oh hush, you." Toriel grinned and smoothed out the little girl's hair. "The French eat snails."

"This isn't France." Frisk pointed to a spot on the nearby globe. "That's France. Long way from here."

Toriel narrowed her eyes at the child, who opened her green eyes widely so she looked more innocent. "Maybe I should be planning a lesson on respect for one's elders."

"You could try that."

"I don't look forward to your teenage years." Toriel turned back to her work and began to collect her things. "Just give me a second to put everything away and I'll—" she looked over at Frisk. "What are you doing with the letter opener?"

Frisk stared down at her hand in confusion. Sure enough, she was clutching a letter opener so tightly, her knuckles were rapidly going white. She let it drop to the ground.

"I… don't know." Frisk said honestly. "I just picked it up."

"Oh…" Toriel stared at her daughter, wondering if the red glint in her eyes would return but it didn't. She shrugged. "Okay well don't mess around with that. You could hurt someone."

"I know." Frisk mumbled. "I… right, sorry."

Toriel watched the child vacate the room. Something about this felt… odd. It was the same sort of feeling she'd had when Frisk was trying to convince her to leave the Ruins. The way Frisk had stared at her, like she was seeing a ghost… but that was ridiculous, wasn't it? Toriel banished the thought from her mind. It was silly to think too deeply into something so innocuous. It was a letter opener, not a weapon. Perhaps Frisk had thought it was a pen. That had to be it.

Yawning, Toriel straightened up her things and walked down the hallway to her bedroom. By the time she had snuggled under the covers, she had forgotten her concern.

* * *

"Okay, Papryus, Undyne," Toriel said the next afternoon with the air of someone explaining to a toddler that he could _not_ have a cookie right now, "do you see the nice little arrow I've drawn on the knob here?"

"Yeah, I see it." Undyne said dismissively. "What about it? Oh! Is that how hot we have to cook stuff before it explodes?"

"No, dear." Toriel sighed. This was feeling more like a bad idea by the minute. "That's as far as you need to boil water. No higher. Understand?"

"Of course!" Papyrus exclaimed in a voice far too loud for such a small kitchen. "But how hot do you need it to go to set the noodles on fire? Is there a fire setting?"

"No, you don't need to set the kitchen on fire to make spaghetti." Toriel explained patiently. "You don't need to set _anything_ on fire to cook it."

"Wait a second! That's not how Undyne taught me!" Papyrus rounded on Undyne, who looked thoroughly unabashed at the contradiction of her cooking methods. "Are you saying there's a more efficient, less explosion inducing way to make spaghetti?"

"I dunno. I don't cook." Undyne grinned widely.

What?" Papyrus jumped back, his cape coming dangerously close to the hot burners. "Then why were you teaching me?"

"I just thought…" Undyne carefully considered her words. "I just thought you might be able to point out all my mistakes! You've very observant."

"Of course I am!" Papyrus posed dramatically, a large, proud smile on his boney face. "And that's exactly what I was doing! I was secretly watching you to make sure you didn't make any mistakes because then I, the Great Papyrus, would have, in the humblest way possible, corrected you."

Frisk giggled, thankfully unnoticed by the skeleton. Toriel gestured to the burner to indicate that the water in the pot had begun to boil. Papyrus looked fascinated for a moment. Undyne winked at Frisk.

"All right, _now_ it's time to add the noodles." Toriel said, getting the package out.

"I can do that!" Papyrus announced to the room. "That's my favorite part!"

"All right." Toriel handed the package to him.

Papyrus lifted his arm and would have slammed the noodles in the pot had Toriel not caught his wrist.

"That's not how to add the noodles?" he asked, sounding extremely disappointed.

"Not even close." Said Toriel. "You haven't taken them out of the packaging yet."

"Undyne says the packaging is a good source of fiber!"

"Perhaps but it's not very tasty." Toriel slowly lowered Papyrus's arm and tugged the package from his fingers.

Papyrus watched in fascination as Toriel extracted some of the noodles and carefully placed them in the pot. She then handed Papyrus a ladle.

"Stir them around until soft." She said. "I'll be back. Don't set anything on fire. Please."

Papyrus focused on the noodles, stirring as steadily as he could. Undyne watched with mild fascination before turning back to Frisk.

"Well at least we're not in danger of burning the house down." She said to the child, who smiled. "Good times. Hm. I bet the fire's out by now. Maybe now I can get back my sword!"

"It's probably out." Said Frisk. "So how's military life?"

"It's great! It's just like the Royal Guard except with humans. Training uses a lot less swords than I was expecting. Guns aren't nearly as personal as swords. And the sergeant wasn't too keen on my ideas for battles. Said it was 'too dangerous for basic training.' And I said if you could get past them, anyone could!" Undyne rolled her eyes. "I mean it's not like I killed you, right?"

Frisk's eyes glowed red for a split second. Undyne's smile faded but as she looked, the girl's eyes had clearly gone back to green. Perhaps it had been her imagination.

"I'm going to go see if Toriel's done with whatever she's doing. Papyrus can trust you not to let him burn the noodles, can't he?"

"I can still hear you, you know!" Papyrus said from across the room. "Even if I don't have ears."

"Of course." Undyne grinned at Frisk and exited the room.

Papyrus continued to stare into the pot and steadily stir. A loud crash sounded behind him. He turned to see all the pots and pans that had been hanging on the other side of the room clattering to the floor.

"Don't worry, human! I am excellent at organization! I can put these back in record time!"

Papyrus bolted across the room and began to pick up the pots and pans, eyeing the rack so he could put them back in exactly the right order.

"I've done this at home many, many times! Sans is never cleaning up after he cooks. Of course, he hardly cooks but it would be somewhat courteous if he—"

 _SPLASH!_

Boiling water and soggy noodles dripped off Papyrus, soaking through his clothes. He turned around to see Frisk holding the now empty pot, looking rather horrified with herself.

"Oh! So you sensed that I was thinking about taking a shower and have offered to boil away and germs I may have picked up?" Papyrus straightened up, looking pleased. "Frisk, you are so conscientious! You've just saved me a lot of time! Although I don't understand why you wouldn't have waited until I put the noodles in." he pulled a noodle out of his ribs. "Unless… you want me to have the full spa treatment!"

Frisk stared at her friend, green eyes wide in horror. Papyrus babbled something about noodles clearing his pores and how he'd noticed his skin was getting flaky when Undyne burst into the room.

"Why'd you wait until I left to make a mess?" she demanded, looking slightly offended.

"Frisk here was just trying to make sure I maintain my good looks!" Papyrus stood, posing with his cape flying out behind him like some sort of ridiculous superhero.

"I didn't… I didn't…" Frisk stuttered, clearly shocked at what she'd just done.

"Did you just douse him in boiling water?" Toriel asked from the doorway.

"Aw come on, why do you do these things when I'm not there to see them?" Undyne wailed.

"It's not funny, Undyne, that water was boiling! Frisk, you could have really hurt him! Why did you do it?"

"I didn't mean it!" Frisk said shakily. "I just… I was sitting at the table and then I… I did it! I didn't want to; I'm sorry, Papyrus!"

"Why there's no need to apologize for your kind and thoughtful actions!" Papyrus waved away her apology. "Besides, boiling water is the best way to get rid of germs. You were only looking out for my cleanliness, weren't you?"

Frisk looked between Papyrus, who was grinning proudly at her, to Toriel and Undyne, both of whom were eyeing her with suspicious expressions. The girl faltered for a moment.

"I… have to go to the bathroom!" she exclaimed before darting out the door.

"Well… I guess we're not having spaghetti." Undyne said after a tense pause.

* * *

"Sans!" Papyrus burst through the front door of the little flat he and his brother shared. "I've had an epiphany about cooking! Apparently, you're not supposed to—"

The taller skeleton faltered when he caught sight of Sans. His brother was sitting on the couch, rubbing his eye sockets.

"An epiphany about what?" Sans asked, looking up.

"You look very tired." Papyrus said simply. "Did you not take your nap last night?"

"Uhh…" Sans yawned and stretched. "Couldn't sleep."

"Why didn't you take a nap this afternoon?"

"I thought you hated it when I napped."

"I do but you're always so cranky when you don't!"

"Well… don't worry about it." Sans waved a hand in a halfhearted gesture. "I'll be fine."

Papyrus stared at his brother with a concerned expression for a moment before deciding to buy his excuse. It wasn't like Sans would keep anything from him, after all! As he bustled to the kitchen, he missed his brother's eyes following him until he was out of sight.

Sans couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was wrong. For some reason, when he looked at Papyrus, he couldn't help but think of a pile of dust scattered beneath a red scarf. The mental image made him cringe. Had he imagined it or had he seen it before and forgotten? But no… that was ridiculous. Papyrus was fine.

"Papyrus!" Sans called. "You feelin' all right?"

"Should I be sick?" Papyrus asked, poking his head through the door to the kitchen.

"No, I just… wanted to know if you're all right."

"Funny you should ask." Papyrus moved to stand in the doorway. "The human poured a pot of boiling water on me and Toriel says it could have hurt." He flexed his bony fingers. "I don't think she knows much about us skeletons. And besides, I've been meaning to take a shower anyway."

"Great. Good you're okay." Sans said.

Papyrus grinned and disappeared into the kitchen once more. Sans put his head in his hands. He wished he could shake that mental image. He wished this feeling coursing through his bones would just go away. Everything was fine.

He jumped at the sound of his cell phone. He answered it and put it where his ear would be if he had one. "Hello?"

"Sans, I didn't know who else to call." Undyne's voice came through the receiver. "But something weird happened and… you got a minute?"

"Yeah." Said Sans. "I got all the minutes you need."

* * *

 _I hope this was good! I've been spending an inordinate amount of time attempting to kill Sans in Genocide but I finally threw in the towel. 156 tries was enough. I'd have done it eventually but it just wasn't worth it. I was also having trouble pinning down the individual voices of the characters. Hopefully I've done well but it's a learning experience._

 _Don't forget to review!_

 _~KateMarie999_


	3. Blackout

_Another chapter already? Yeah, I'm definitely on a roll! Hope this chapter is to your liking!_

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Blackouts**

* * *

Alphys was thoroughly engrossed in an episode of anime when her door was nearly blasted off its hinges. She jumped violently, the remote flying out of her claws.

"Undyne!" she called, more in surprise than cheerfulness. "Wh-what's going on?"

"Just need your science-y knowledge. Right now." Undyne snatched the remote off the couch and switched off the TV. She plopped herself down on the coffee table so she could face Alphys.

Alphys was usually quite pleased to see Undyne but to have her smash through the door and interrupt her show while her OTP was flirting wasn't her idea of a peaceful afternoon. Then again, these things were to be expected when Undyne was your friend.

"What's wrong?" Alphys asked, swallowing her annoyance.

"Frisk." Undyne said simply. At Alphys's confused expression, she added "she's sick. Mentally."

"You mean c-crazy?" Alphys gave a nervous little laugh. "Frisk isn't crazy."

"Then why'd she try to kill Papyrus?"

Alphys straightened up on the couch at these words. "She did _what_?"

"Well if you'd let me tell you!" Undyne snapped.

And she told Alphys all about the cooking lesson she'd just finished. Alphys stared at her open mouthed for a second before pulling herself together.

"Well… that sounds like an accident."

"Come on!" Undyne rolled her eye. "Mess up the pots and pans on the other side of the room to distract Papyrus and _then_ splash a whole pot of scalding hot water on him? If it had been any of the rest of us, we'd have burns all over!"

"Yes." Alphys agreed. "But it was Papyrus."

"So?"

"So maybe sh-she knew it wouldn't hurt him." Alphys gave Undyne a somewhat nervous smile.

"Or maybe she didn't know it wouldn't." Undyne said darkly.

"She freed the whole Underground." Said Alphys. "She can't b-be that bad. Can she?"

"You know what, if you won't believe me, I'll talk to someone who will." Undyne snapped. "Don't let me interrupt your cartoons."

Alphys was stung by these words but she still wasn't convinced that Frisk was up to anything terrible. A girl who had shown her friendship when very few had before couldn't have tried to kill anyone. She simply didn't have it in her! Alphys winced when Undyne slammed the door behind her but decided to wait until she was calmed down before calling or texting. Undyne had a terrible temper and Alphys wasn't about to get on the wrong side of her now!

BREAK

Undyne stomped away, causing several people around her to look up in alarm. She ignored them. She knew that, by all accounts, she was completely overreacting to the situation. And had it just been the spaghetti incident, she would have let it go. But Frisk's red eyes, that was another problem altogether.

She stopped, realizing she'd forgotten to tell Alphys about Frisk's eyes. Oh well. Alphys probably wouldn't believe her anyway. So who could she talk to about this? Certainly not Toriel. And Papyrus wouldn't believe Frisk was evil even if she'd gone on a killing spree. Asgore, well, he would probably be no help at all. So that left Sans.

Undyne got out her phone, thinking that she should have called Sans straight away. He always seemed to just… _know_ things, almost like he had some kind of ability to see into the future. Undyne had noticed this in the first week she had been on the surface; Sans acted like he'd known Frisk for years. Lazy as he was, there was definitely more to him than he let on and if anyone would believe that Frisk was up to something, it was him.

"Hello?" came Sans's voice through her phone.

"Sans, I didn't know who else to call." Said Undyne without preamble. But something weird happened and… you got a minute."

There was a brief pause before Sans responded. "Yeah. I've got all the minutes you need."

"Great. Meet me at the park next to Alphys's place."

"Uh… now?" Sans sounded tired.

"Yes now!" Undyne shouted before hanging up.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Sans could be seen sauntering over to a park bench, where Undyne sat, looking very impatient.

"So what's up?" he asked.

Undyne didn't spare a second in regaling him with the story, including the red eyes this time. Sans nodded slowly.

"Okay." He said thoughtfully. "That's… weird."

"So now what? Is she nuts or am _I_ nuts?" Undyne blurted out.

"It's just strange that you'd be telling me this now when I…" Sans rubbed his face. "Okay, I'm about to tell you something you should _not_ tell Papyrus."

"Done. Or… not done. What is it?"

"I've been having some… dreams." Sans paused to think for a moment. "I don't remember all the details and I thought it was nothing the first couple of times. But now you mention this, they might be… uhh… hmm, how do I put this? Flashbacks? To stuff that hasn't happened, at least not in this timeline."

"In this… what?" Undyne's mouth hung open a bit. She was clearly bewildered.

"Not too many people know about this and I don't want it getting out," said Sans in a low voice, "but this timeline is… sensitive to change. And we are too. Any second, we could get thrown back in time with no memory of what happened here."

Undyne eyed him with a suspicious expression. "That's more insane than Frisk trying to kill Papyrus."

"Yeah, you always say that, or something like it, every time I've tried to tell you in any other timeline." Sans chortled. "At least, I vaguely remember that. Can't exactly recall every timeline with crisp detail but… all right."

"You're nuts."

"I'll tell you something I couldn't possibly know. Something you'd have had to tell me and then forget about it when you got reset." Sans leaned forward slightly. "You like Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2."

"What?" Undyne jumped back. "No I don't!"

"You do! You only pretend to hate it because Alphys does."

"If you tell Alphys, I'll kill you!" Undyne snarled.

Sans laughed. "Wouldn't matter if I did! My death could get reset at any time and then you wouldn't remember that I told Alphys anything. And, lucky for you, Alphys wouldn't know you lied to her."

"You better _hope_ it gets reset if you say a word about it to her!" Undyne punched her palm with a tightly clasped fist.

Sans held up his hands in a surrendering gesture. "I just hang onto this information as a way of convincing people of the timelines. I've got something on all of you, something I could only know if you told me. Just in case this exact situation happens."

"Y'know, Papyrus complains that you're lazy but now I think he's full of it."

"What Papyrus doesn't know, at least in this case, won't hurt him." Sans gave her a sharp look. "And I mean what I said. Don't tell him."

"I'm not telling him anything. Do you know how paranoid he'd be? Every bout of déjà vu, we'd hear about some previous timeline we both know he doesn't actually remember." Undyne paused for a moment. "And that's all assuming I believe you. Which I don't. That could have been an educated guess."

"Yeah, you were always the hardest to convince. I made sure to prepare for that as well." Sans smirked. "So, and mind you this took the longest to get out of you, I happen to know you still carry around your security blanket from when you were little. And that you keep it locked up in a safe in your bedroom."

Undyne's face flushed a brilliant scarlet. "Why the _hell_ would I have told you that?"

"I have my methods."

"Well… don't you dare…"

"Tell anyone? Have I told you any of the dirt I've got on everyone else?" Sans shrugged. "That's not important. 'Sides, we could get reset and you won't remember this conversation at all."

Undyne fidgeted, making a kind of growling noise low in her throat. She sounded like she wanted to punch Sans's lights out but was holding herself back.

"So the timeline stuff, that brings me to Frisk." Sans continued as if Undyne hadn't looked murderous. "She's got the power. She can reset timelines herself. And only she will retain memories of it. Hell, she's not even a _she_ , not strictly speaking. Sometimes she's a he. Her gender can be a bit… tough to pin down. Some kind of weird outside influence but hell if I know what that is." He paused for a second to collect his thoughts. "I'm going to go to my home in the Underground. Sometimes… I can tell."

"Tell what?"

"Whether the timelines have been disturbed. And if they have, that might explain why…" he shook his head. "Never mind. I'll give you a call if I detect anything."

"Oh no!" Undyne snapped, hopping to her feet. "I'm not sitting idly by waiting for you to give me news, if Frisk is in serious danger, I'm doing what I can to save her or die trying."

"Suit yourself." Said Sans, not looking too concerned. "Trouble is, it isn't just you whose life is on the line here. And if Frisk is under some kind of timeline based control, there's no telling what she'll do next."

"How do you know Frisk isn't just some psychopath whose only showing us her true colors now?" Undyne asked, walking in step with Sans.

"Because I have a theory that Frisk isn't as in control of the situation as she seems." Sans quickened his pace. "You're just gonna have to trust me."

Undyne sighed irritably but decided to follow Sans anyway. She hated the secrecy but if Frisk was under someone's control, she knew the that the less she knew, the safer she was. For now.

* * *

 _Exposition chapter. Yawn. I hate having to write chapters like this. Hopefully it was interesting. Next one should be pretty exciting!_

 _Don't forget to review!_

 _~KateMarie999_


	4. Discontinued

Hello everyone.

I would like to start off by apologizing for not saying this earlier but I have decided to discontinue this work. I don't have time to finish it and the ending I had planned for it was far too convoluted to work with the Soulless Pacifist ending anyway. Please check out my other Undertale fanfics, I think they're much better.

Again, I'm sorry. This fic will be taken down soon.

KateMarie999


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